What love looks like
by MiladyGirl
Summary: Set after Cinderella 2. Cinderella invites her stepfamily for tea every month. And this time Lady Tremaine is acting odd. Is she in love? Could it be?


A/N

I watched the Cinderella movie, and the Cinderella 2 movie, and for some reason I wrote this. "For some reason"? Because I thought Lady Tremaine needed to ease up a little. I've never found references to her first name, so I gave her the same name the voice actress has, Eleanor. This is just something I wrote for myself, then figured I'd share it if anyone else wants to read. Don't like it, I won't force you to read it, go on and read something else. This is the first thing I've written in over a year, so please be gentle with me, m'kay? :)

* * *

Cinderella, as she still thought of herself as, although she technically was "Princess Ella" now, sometimes wondered why she bothered with these "tea parties" with her stepfamily. Perhaps she _was _something of a masochist, but once a month she would stubbornly invite her stepsisters and stepmother to the castle for tea. And every time, they would come. Probably only to be able to brag about their close connection to the Royal family, but they still came. Sometimes they could even behave in a semi-nice manner.

Anastasia had married the baker she had unexpectedly fallen in love with, and had since changed completely. She was so happy she was bursting, and happiness is an efficient antidote to evil. She had made it clear to everyone - including her mother - that as far as she was concerned, Cinderella was her sister.

Drizella had married for money - the man in question was a snob and so much alike her, even she displayed something akin to happiness lately.

Lady Tremaine however, did not. With her daughters married and out of the house, she lived alone with the cat, working her way through every housekeeper in the village, scaring them off within days. Cinderella wasn't afraid of her; in fact she felt sorry for her stepmother, whom she believed was a deeply unhappy and insecure woman. The only good thing that had happened to her lately seemed to be the fact that the latest housekeeper had turned out to be "not quite an imbecile", which in Lady Tremaine's book was a raving review.

But today, as they sat down for their monthly family tea, there was something strange about Eleanor Tremaine. Cinderella had noticed from their arrival that her stepmother looked younger. At first she couldn't quite pinpoint how, but then realised that the permanent sneer was gone from the older woman's face, and replaced with a dreamy smile that softened her sharp features into an elegant but not haughty kind of beauty. Her eyes, which would usually have a chilly, condescending glare, seemed hazy, the look in them distant and gentle. Normally, she would have caught Cinderella staring at her, but she seemed so far away, Cinderella doubted if she even noticed where she was. If she didn't know better, she'd almost think that…

"Sis", Anastasia whispered into her ear, interrupting her train of thought, "what is wrong with Mother? She barely seems aware of us. I'd say it's a good thing, but it's odd."

"I don't think anything is wrong", Cinderella whispered back. "And if it is, I'll find out what is, and we can try to fix it."

"Hello?! Is anyone listening to me? I'm a mess, I can't decide whether to wear the pearls or the diamonds to the party tomorrow", Drizella complained. "Mother!"

"Huh? What? I'm sorry dear, I was far away."

Drizella merely sighed and repeated herself, but Anastasia and Cinderella exchanged surprised looks. An apology? A term of endearment? There was definitely _something _odd going on here.

"More tea, stepmother?" Cinderella asked. She received no reply. After advising her daughter to take the diamonds, Lady Tremaine had returned to whatever dream world she was in. She was staring dreamily into thin air, fingertips tracing patterns on her teacup as if caressing it. Cinderella repeated the question, watching (not without pity) as her stepmother's daydream popped. For a moment the older woman looked completely disoriented. Then she offered a weak smile - not a smirk or a sneer, but a smile - and replied "No, thank you. I need to get back home." She spoke with no venom in her voice, no daggers shooting from her eyes, and she had never thanked Cinderella before. This was getting weirder and weirder. Cinderella glanced at the two sisters - Drizella trying to make Anastasia jealous with brag about furs and parties and jewels, Anastasia nodding without really listening, with both hands cradling the bump on her belly, where the only jewel she cared about at this point of life was growing - deciding they could carry on alone for a while, and followed her stepmother to the door.

"Is everything well?" she asked. "I was thinking, you must be lonely in that big house."

"I'm not", her stepmother replied, and a blush crept up her neck and spread over her face. She cleared her throat and added: "I mean, I have Lucifer."

With that, she turned around and walked down the stairs to the waiting carriage, head held high. Cinderella looked as she went, curious.

* * *

A couple of days later, Cinderella decided to go and see her stepmother, to see if she could get any more clues to the mystery. She was well aware that it was rude to be too curious, but she couldn't help herself in this matter. She wanted nothing more than see who could bring out happiness in the coldest woman she had ever met. But when she knocked on the door, nobody answered it. She was just about to leave when she heard laughter from the garden on the backside. She had never heard her stepmother laugh before, would have thought her incapable of a sound that sounded so happy, so full of appreciation.

She snuck in through a gate hidden by greenery, and saw her stepmother sitting on a bench, a book forgotten on her lap. Her posture was as regal as ever, and her gaze aimed somewhere deeper in the garden, in the direction of the fountain. Laughter was still present in her voice as she called out:

"Oh silly, don't do that, you're going to…"

A splash interrupted her.

"Fall". She rose from her seat, shoving the book aside. "Honey, are you alright?" Still laughing, but a hint of worry had crept into her voice.

"I'm fine! Made you look!" someone called back and Cinderella's jaw slackened. That voice belonged to…

A younger, raven-haired woman with wet clothes clinging to her body came within sight, and Lady Tremaine held out her arms to her. "Come here, love" she purred, and Maria, the housekeeper, walked into the waiting embrace. "I'll get you wet", she said, but didn't even try to pull back. "Is that an uncommon occurrence?" the older woman asked and the housekeeper giggled in response before pulling Eleanor Tremaine closer, kissing her deeply.

Cinderella quietly left the couple alone, sneaking back out the way she came. She had never known two women could fall in love with each other, but she knew that was what love looked like and wasn't going to question it.


End file.
